


Don't You Run Away

by eternaleponine



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Clexa Week 2018, Constantly Mistaken For A Couple, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 11:24:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13810179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternaleponine/pseuds/eternaleponine
Summary: Clexa Week 2018 - Day 2 - Constantly Mistaken for a CoupleEveryone knows that Clarke and Lexa have been a couple since they met in freshman year... except Clarke and Lexa.  Now they're seniors and Lexa is returning from a semester abroad.  Will they figure things out before it's too late?Title is from "Tell Her You Love Her" by Echosmith





	Don't You Run Away

"You seriously need to take it down like twenty notches," Raven groused. "It's honestly disgusting, especially this early in the morning."

"What are you even talking about?" Clarke asked, sliding a paper cup across the table to Raven, hoping that a shot of caffeine (or five) would turn her at least a little more human. She had learned pretty much the moment that she met Raven that she was not a morning person, and that hadn't changed. There was nothing like moving into your freshman dorm room with your very much a morning person dad to find that one of the beds was already occupied by a sophomore with some sort of dispensation to move in early, and that she woke up hissing and spitting like a wet cat if disturbed before nine a.m... and even that was pushing it, especially on weekends. 

"I know your girlfriend is coming back today, but—"

"She is _not_ my girlfriend!" Clarke said. "How many times do I have to tell you that?" 

"At least once more, Miss Griffin, as always," Octavia said, sliding into the booth beside Clarke. She grinned, popping a piece of muffin in her mouth and chewing vigorously. "Not that I believe you, but seriously, if you aren't already hitting that, you need to get your shit together and get on it before someone else does."

"It's not like that," Clarke said, pretending that she didn't feel a pang of something that absolutely was not jealousy at the idea of someone else 'hitting that'. It didn't matter whether she was dating Lexa or not (which she wasn't). Lexa was her best friend, and as far as Clarke was concerned, no one would ever be good enough for her. All of the relationships that either of them had had over the years had been short-lived and frequently accompanied by ill-concealed accusations of 'beard' in the midst of coughing fits... even when they (by which she meant Raven and Octavia, who for some reason she still chose to live with despite the fact that she kind of hated them sometimes) were talking about the girls that Lexa dated. 

"Uh-huh," Raven said. "And Denial is just a river in Egypt." 

"Just make sure you text us when you finally get around to banging her so we don't walk in at an inopportune time," Octavia said. 

"We have our own rooms," Clarke pointed out. Finally, in their senior year, they'd managed to get a suite, so they had some privacy, but still had a shared living area and miniature kitchen. It was like having an apartment, almost, except without having to pay rent and utilities, except in the form of room and board which was all part of the big bill that would come due after graduation, in the form of student loans that would hopefully be paid off before they retired, which they tried not to think about. 

"True," Octavia said, "but she might be a screamer."

"Pot and kettle," Raven snarked. "Just... seriously, Griffin. You two have been dating since you were freshman, and everyone knows it except, apparently, the two of you. You've been pining and moping all semester without her. She's coming home today. So woman up and get your girl."

"We're not dating," Clarke said one last time, but Octavia and Raven were already talking about something else.

* * *

She'd promised Lexa that she would pick her up at the airport, and she was so worried about being late that she ended up being almost two hours early. There were plenty of little shops to poke around in, but she kept going back to the area past the security gates, obsessively checking her phone, and then the boards, and then her phone again, making sure that there hadn't been any delays or changes to Lexa's gate or anything else that would mean she might somehow miss her. 

Finally, her phone screen lit up with a message:

 **Lexa:** On the ground. Can't wait to see you.

 **Clarke:** So hurry up!

She hoped that Lexa would know that she was teasing.

 **Lexa:** This flight is full of babies and grandparents. Might be a while.

Clarke sent back a grumpy face, and Lexa sent back a kissing face.

 _It doesn't mean anything,_ Clarke told the butterflies that swarmed in her stomach, and the sudden flush of blood that rushed to her cheeks. It was just an emoji, and that tiny little heart by the lips wasn't some kind of sign. 

And for fuck's sake, she didn't want it to be.

Clarke stood up as people began to stream out past security, scanning the crowd until finally she saw Lexa, and it was all she could do not to rush at her and tackle her, but she was pretty sure that that would be a terrible idea with TSA watching. So she waited for Lexa to make her way to her, and then threw her arms around her and held on tight, her face pressed into Lexa's collar, soft flannel against one cheek and warm skin against the other. 

She felt Lexa's throat bob as she swallowed several times before she actually said anything. "I missed you," Lexa finally whispered, her breath brushing Clarke's ear making her shiver with sudden heat. "So much." 

"I missed you too," Clarke whispered back. "I love Raven and O, but..." She lifted her head to look at Lexa, and their noses brushed as Lexa rested their foreheads against each other. 

"It's not the same," Lexa finished for her. She closed her eyes for a second, her fingers digging into Clarke's elbows as she held her there for a moment more, and then finally let go. "We should go get my bags."

"Yeah," Clarke said. "Okay."

It didn't take long for Lexa's suitcases to appear, and they made their way to the parking garage, bumping against each other as they wrangled them across the pavement. Once they were in Clarke's car, Clarke turned to look at her, and for a second... just for a second... she imagined what it would be like to lean across the space between them and press her mouth to Lexa's. Then she forced the thought away, because it was useless and impossible, and she didn't even _want_ to. 

"So how was your flight?" Clarke asked, twisting the key in the ignition with more force than was truly necessary. 

"It was okay," Lexa said. "I ended up next to a woman who was traveling by herself and feeling chatting, but what can you do?" She smiled in that way she had where it barely curved her lips but lit up her eyes, that made Clarke feel all warm inside even when she wasn't the one who'd caused it. "She saw the picture of us on my phone and asked if you were my girlfriend." 

"What did you say?" Clarke asked, keeping her eyes carefully on the road. 

"I said no, that you're my best friend. To which she said, 'The two aren't mutually exclusive. If you're lucky, they'll be one and the same.'" Lexa was still smiling, but Clarke thought she saw a flicker of something in her eyes when she glanced over. Probably just a trick of the light, though. 

The rest of the drive was fairly quiet, and once they'd lugged Lexa's stuff up to her dorm room, Clarke moved to leave, figuring she was probably tired and would want to rest, or unpack, or something. She twisted the knob, and Lexa looked up at the sound. 

"Wait," she said, taking a step toward her, hand out like she might try to grab her if she didn't listen. "Clarke."

Clarke stopped, let go of the knob and heard it click back into place, closing them off from the rest of the world. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lexa said. "Only..." She swallowed. "She said something else. The woman on the plane."

"What?" Clarke asked, suddenly uneasy. 

"I... guess I must have mentioned you a lot. When we were talking. As we were getting off the plane, she said, 'You need to tell her.'"

"Tell her what?" Clarke asked, her throat feeling suddenly thick. 

"'That you're in love with her,'" Lexa said. "I mean..." Her eyes were wide, hopeful and scared at once, and the distance between them suddenly seemed like too much and too little all at once. 

"But you don't," Clarke said. "We're not..." Her eyes darted from Lexa's eyes to her lips and back again, watching as she drew her lower lip between her teeth and let it go, never breaking eye contact. "Lexa?"

"I missed you," Lexa whispered, "so much sometimes that it hurt to breathe, because there was just this vacuum in my chest where you weren't. That's not... that's not just... that's not how... friends... feel... about each other, Clarke."

"I..." _I lost count of the number of times I cried because I wanted to see you and you weren't there. I slept with one of your flannel shirts every night until it lost the scent of you. I looked over to find you when I saw something that I liked, because I wanted you to see it too, and you weren't there, and it killed me every. damn. time._

Clarke wasn't sure who moved first, only that they crashed into each other in the middle, pulling each other in until they were as close as two vertical bodies could get, and Lexa's lips were on hers, soft and sweet and saying everything they hadn't said, everything they'd denied, for the last four years without uttering a single word. 

They shuffled their way to Lexa's unmade bed and tumbled onto it, hands scrabbling over and then under clothing, desperately, as shirts got pushed up and pants got pushed down, and Clarke gasped as Lexa's fingers slid under the elastic of her underwear and between her legs, further and further until she was inside of her, and Clarke rocked against the press of her palm, moaning. She worked her own hand between their bodies, into Lexa's panties, drawing her fingers through the heat and wet and over her clit, circling and rubbing even as her own body sparked and ignited under Lexa's touch, her thighs clamping around her hand when she came, hard and fast, sucking the moans from Lexa's lips until she followed. 

"I'm so in love with you," Clarke mumbled against her sweat-damp skin, withdrawing her hand so she could wrap her arms around Lexa and hold her like she'd wanted to hold her for so long and wouldn't admit to anyone, even – especially – herself.

"Only as much as I'm in love with you," Lexa replied, one hand smoothing back Clarke's hair as the other draped over her waist. 

"We're never going to hear the end of this," Clarke said, her lips brushing Lexa's. 

Lexa just smiled into the kiss. "If that's the price we have to pay to finally be where we're meant to be and who we're meant to be with, I'll pay it a thousand times." Her hand strayed up Clarke's side and under her shirt again. "But later. Now... we have so much time to make up for, and I'm not wasting a second."


End file.
